Football: It's not pretty, but Acadia takes Loney Bowl

As much as it would be easy to say this game was a battle of two great defences, it could also be said both teams struggled doing the basics on offence. Together they recorded only 418 yards of total offence. SMU only completed one pass. The lone bright spot offensively for either team was Acadia’s Thomas Troop who rushed for 184 yards on 28 carries.

The wind certainly played a large role in the way the game was played. Saint Mary’s, starting against the wind, tried to limit the effect quarterback Jean Legault had on the game early on by going 14 straight plays without passing.

The Huskies managed to dominate the time of possession early on but they could not capitalize largely due to an awful pass game. They were intentionally one-dimensional today. Legault finished the day 1 for 11 for -5 yards, and his only completion was a shovel pass that was fumbled behind the line of scrimmage, recovered by Acadia, and turned into a field goal.

The Saint Mary’s defence looked dominant early on and was led by Odane Finnegan, a converted offensive lineman, but once he went down Troop started to roll. Acadia QB Kyle Graves also struggled at times, fumbling once and throwing an interception which was deflected, but was still able to throw for one touchdown on a fantastic deep over the shoulder throw to Taylor Renaud.

The inability by SMU to make anything happen in the pass game allowed Acadia take over in the second half. Of the 17 times the Huskies dropped back to pass, they were sacked on four of them. Acadia defensive end Jesse St. James finished the game with two sacks and five and a half tackles for a loss.

The Axemen will now move on to face Laval next Saturday in the Uteck Bowl after the Rouge et Or took care of Sherbrooke 40-17.